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Favourites to become new Wolves manager after club confirm sacking of Gary O’Neil

We take a look at the favourites to become new Wolves manager after the club confirm the sacking of head coach Gary O’Neil.

Just days after chairman Jeff Shi gave him the vote of confidence, Wolverhampton Wanderers have now parted ways with O’Neil, who had been expected to lose his job following 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Monday night in a match which was described as ‘El Sackico’.

However, he was given a stay of execution and backed by Shi going into Saturday’s meeting with Ipswich, but after a 2-1 defeat this weekend, Shi has had a change of heart and axed him.

Wolves’ latest loss means they stay in the Premier League relegation zone in 19th place, four points off safety.

With O’Neil now gone, reports state that the club are closing in on the appointment of Vitor Pereira as new head coach, with the deal almost done. Details being fixed on exit clause from Al Shabab with it all set to be signed.

The club statement read: Wolves have parted company with head coach Gary O’Neil and his backroom staff.

O’Neil arrived at Molineux just three days before the start of the 2023/24 Premier League season, taking on a significant challenge and ultimately guiding the Old Gold to a successful campaign.

During his first season at the helm, Wolves beat Manchester City and won impressively at Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as rivals West Bromwich Albion during a journey to the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Chairman Jeff Shi said: “We’re very grateful to Gary for all of his effort, dedication and hard work during his time at the club, and we wish him and his team the best of luck for the future.”

Wolves players restrained by staff and fans vent anger after Ipswich score 94th minute winner

Pereira, 56, is described by Tugascout to being explosive, passionate, tactically astute, has become something of a journeyman in recent years courtesy of his growing globe-trotting tendencies, a coaching career that has taken him to 3 continents and nine clubs across the last 13 years.

With a strong reputation – almost retrospectively – in his home country, Pereira is held in high regard by those who have followed his managerial exploits to date, having earned an array of silverware, particularly in the first half of his coaching journey.

A strong desire to test himself in an elite league, stunning success in the Porto hotseat and mixed success since the highs of Porto,.

Having earned just nine points from their opening 16 matches, O’Neil said before he left that there needs to be a massive change if his side are to turn their season around and avoid relegation – which will not be made any easier without Rayan Ait-Nouri after the wing-back was sent off in the tunnel following an altercation after the full-time whistle.

But the head coach believes the biggest challenge is for his players to start getting the fundamentals of football right after once again throwing three points away due to sloppy defending from basic situations.

On defeat at home to Ipswich

“It’s a big blow. A big blow for the group, especially with how much it took for us to get ourselves in the game and be the better side for the whole of the second half. It’s a big blow, because the lads, as you see, were at maximum. We got every last drop out of them to get ourselves in that position where we looked like, and I felt like, we’d go on to win the game, and then to suffer a goal that late.

“The nature of the two goals are crazy for this level, which we’ve said too many times this year. I can help them and protect them from a lot of things, but a centre-back booting the ball high for Liam Delap to just run through, he’d have scored that goal in his under-18s loads of times when he was bigger and stronger than everyone, and he just ran through and moved people out the way.

“That shouldn’t happen at Premier League level. Then there was unbelievably bad decision making from a corner, from players deciding to switch positions for no reason that cost us at the end, but that’s my responsibility. I’m really gutted because it took a lot to get us to that point today, and the subs made a big impact. The change in the shape and the structure made a big impact, and then we have nothing to show for it.”

On conceding more sloppy goals

“There were too many mistakes again from us, and we were probably punished for both of the real big mistakes, but they’re mistakes that just can’t happen at this level. We can’t win football matches if we can’t cope with Liam Delap running through the middle of the pitch and just using physicality against us.

“We have no chance if we can’t stand in the right place, firstly, and go and head a hung up corner, when – especially at that stage of a big game, when you need people to stand up and go and defend, so they’re more than disappointing ways to concede two goals because they didn’t cause us any problems.

“You saw the second half, and there was a lot that went into giving us that opportunity to be on top like we were, and then we take nothing from it.”

On a lack of physicality in the group

“Just the team’s ability to cope at this level has proven unbelievably difficult for us. I’ve worked at this level, this is my third year now, and I’ve never had so much of a struggle to help a group cope with their level in real basic stuff.

“The detailed stuff and some of the game plan stuff, we’ve had no problem really, and that’s not caused us a massive problem. But we go to Everton and they boot it up to the centre-forward and we can’t cope. They put balls in the box and we can’t cope. Today, two goals from exactly the same thing, so we have to find a way in that room – until January, especially – to find the answers within the room.

“But it is proving really difficult for us as a group to find a way, no matter how we play, because that second half performance was pretty much the group at maximum, at full tilt, loads of attacking chances, no threat against our goal. But yet we still found a way, for all that good stuff, to concede two really poor goals today. It’s the same questions that we’re trying to answer; direct play and balls in the box, and we still, as a group, haven’t been able to come up with the answer.”

On getting the basics wrong

“Until we can defend our goal from basics, it’s going to be tough to win football matches. But I’ll keep going, keep trying to help them with all of it, but we got a lot out of that group today, performance-wise, and it won’t be seen because the emotion affects it a lot.

“We started the game pretty well, and then Ipswich score a goal that they’ll never score against another Premier League team. It can’t happen at this level. We have some real difficulty in that area at the moment, and then the set-piece stuff, we’ve tried everything.

“I would happily take that as my fault, if people were stood in the right place and people were doing their jobs, but for that one they weren’t, and we get badly punished. We will continue to try and push this group to its maximum, get them ready to fight every single time, and hopefully we can turn this around.”

On Ait-Nouri’s sending off

“Obviously his emotion has spilled over and he’s lost control, which he knows is unacceptable. I spoke to him during the game, around making sure that he keeps control, because it’s important that we have everybody on the pitch and we have everybody available. We’re short enough at this moment, and we have enough issues without dealing with people picking up silly suspensions.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, I wasn’t I wasn’t around it, but the lads need to find a way to keep more control. I know they’re under big pressure and big stress at this moment, but making it more difficult for ourselves is unacceptable at this moment in time because we need Rayan, and the fact that he’s got himself booked means that we don’t have him. He’ll know already without me speaking to him how I feel about it and we’ll deal with Rayan internally, but it doesn’t help us next week.

“I understand the players being emotional. I understand it and I was emotional at that moment, to concede a goal in that nature. But he and whoever else is involved, we have to keep control better, and that goes for in the game as well.

“For two players not to be in the right place for a corner, at home to Ipswich with 30 seconds left on the clock, to not stand in the right place, shows the emotion and shows they’re not able to think clearly enough and make good decisions in those moments when they’re under stress. But my job is to make sure that we help them get better at it, and we’ll get back to work and try and get ourselves ready for Leicester.”

On players also taking responsibility

“The first place I look is at me, and the first place they need to look is at themselves, because Ipswich have recruited players that have come through the leagues below, and if this group want to consider themselves better than that, they have to step out there and prove it – at some point.

“As much as they’re a great group, and I’ll protect them until the moment I leave this football club, they get judged for that 90 minutes. To be fair, it’s tough to judge the game because the emotion in it is so high, and we’ve given Ipswich two mental goals, and within all of the game, there’ll be loads of good stuff, but it’s not enough.

“You need to win football matches and the lads are right to look at themselves and try and find a way to improve.”

Twitter users reacted amid the favourites to become new Wolves manager after the club confirm the sacking of Gary O’Neil…

@wvBuckley: Fosun have a massive Job to do now. Nuno, Lage, Lopetegui and O’Neil have at some point criticised the board for having no clue what they’re doing whether it be direct or implied. If this happens for a fifth time we need to make ourselves heard more than ever against Fosun #wwfc

@charlemagne_st: Two months too late Keeno. He should have been given his marching orders after the Brentford debacle!!

@GodersTim: Only 9 weeks too late unfortunately……now we will see over the next 4/5 weeks how serious Fosun are in Wolverhampton Wanderers, Hobbs & Shi should be following him down the road!! Actions will speak louder than any words!!We need more than positive atoms! Serious investment!

@CockneyW0lf: Jeff next…

@RitchieJones10: Had to go, basically said he was better than the players yesterday saying they weren’t on the same level, made it a them and us situation. Club and players out of control.

@wellygoggs: Months too late but thank goodness they’ve finally pulled the trigger. Don’t trust them to make the right appointment but it’s something. #wwfc

@JW_WWFC: Jeff Shi and Fosun can follow him out.

@parker_bradley: Thank god he’s gone. But it’s way too late. Should have been after Brentford. We wasted games.

@foleyWWFC: Fuck off Fosun you lot are just as culpable. Get Jeff Shi out this club

@wolvesmolinews: You need to have a strategy in place because at the moment our club appears a complete mess. Abolish the sustainability model, appoint a credible manager who can do the job, attract some talent to the club and let’s show some ambition! #wwfc #Wolves

@WWFC_Tom_: Sad that he was good until the Coventry game but since then it’s been an absolute embarrassment and should have happened a lot sooner, better be a serious manager or we are fucked

@Topoftheshop40: Long overdue but wish him the best, yet another manager Fosun have let down.

@DaneWWFC: Cheers for West Brom away but it was time to go, Fosun your next

@_ItsMe01_: Hobbs next, he has overseen this disaster

@jspencer_1: Too little too late. Damage is done and the rot is through the dressing room

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